News Home

Team USA Trials set to break entry records

ARLINGTON, Texas - The 2014 United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials is poised to be the largest Trials in history, breaking the record for men's, women's and overall entries.

The Trials, which will take place Jan. 3-8 at The Orleans Bowling Center in Las Vegas, has a sold-out men's division with 175 entries and 105 entries in the women's division.

The 280 entries would easily break the record of 256 set last year and marks a 10 percent year-to-year increase. The men's record of 171 was set last year, while the women's record is 101 set in 2004.

"The Team USA Trials have shown remarkable growth in the past six years," USBC Managing Director of National Governing Body Neil Stremmel said. "I think an influx of younger bowlers who have a passion for representing their country and also enjoy being tested in a tough format has helped lead to the increase."

Since 2008, entries have increased each year and 280 entries in 2014 would mark a 172-percent increase in bowlers since 2008.

The Team USA Trials puts players to the ultimate test - five grueling days of qualifying on five USBC Sport Bowling compliant lane conditions taken from the World Tenpin Bowling Association's bank of patterns. The players bowl six games each day for a 30-game total that determines the top three men and three women for the stepladder finals. All rounds of the competition will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV.

The top three men and top three women after qualifying already will be guaranteed spots on Team USA in 2014 and will bowl in the finals for the right to be declared champion, a spot in the QubicaAMF World Cup and prize money. Two more men and two more women from the event will be selected to join Team USA, while five men and five women will be selected from a pool of eligible bowlers based on their bowling resumes and Trials performance, if they competed.

For the third consecutive year, the standings at the Team USA Trials will be based on a points system. The unique system rewards consistency and versatility by ranking players in the field so performance on each lane condition has equal significance.

In each of the five rounds, players will be awarded points based on their finish in that day's round. For example, if a bowler finishes first, they will receive one point; second place receives two points; third place receives three points and so forth down the standings. The three men's players and three women's players with the lowest number of points will advance to the stepladder finals.

A total of eight Junior Team USA spots - four boys and four girls - also will be available. The top two boys and top two girls in the final points standings will earn automatic spots, while two boys and two girls spots will be at-large selections taken from either the Team USA Trials field or the finals field from the Junior Gold Championships held in July 2013. All bowlers 20 and under as of Jan. 1, 2014 are eligible for Junior Team USA.

All USBC members are eligible to compete in the Team USA Trials and more information can be found at BOWL.com/TeamUSATrials.